Selimiye Camii
The present mosque, used by the Cypriot muslims as a place of worship, was at the beginning a roman-catholic church. The mosque is the oldest gothic monument on the island, it’s construction started at the beginning of the XIIIth century. The history of this building has been very difficult. It started to perform its current function of the mosque in 1954 when its name was changed from Ayia Sofiana to Selimiye Camii and its present state is rather good. The cathedral which was being built for 150 years was the place of corronation for the consecutive rulers, but in the XVIth century it was destroyed by the Ottoman invaders. The monument we can admire nowadays is a building erected by the Muslim – they added minarets, ablution fountain and made the necessary changes inside the building. Because it is now the the most important place of worship, the visitors can enter the mosque only if they remember about good manners, appropriate clothes and silence. The high towers added by the Muslims are the landmark of the city, towering over the metropolis in its central part.
Tags: church, historical monument, monument, mosque
